


steal me all the way from myself

by beatswords



Category: Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-14 18:36:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16918173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beatswords/pseuds/beatswords
Summary: Hunter has been good for him, in more ways than one, and every day spent together feels like he’s being healed from his past ways. Maybe his proposal is his way of ensuring he can hold onto that feeling more intimately.





	steal me all the way from myself

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fangirlshrewt97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirlshrewt97/gifts).



> I hope you like this! I've never written a pure fluff fic or an established relationship, but I wanted to challenge myself. Writing this made me appreciate Ninja Storm more and rewatch a few eps so thank you for that as well!

It starts over drinks, one evening after classes at both academies finish for the day.

While Shane initially brought up the idea of happy hour, as an opportunity for both academies to bond and trade notes, it spawned into a nightly endeavor for most. Working as an instructor involves so much exertion on a daily basis, it’s natural to need a couple of hours to unwind. No matter what day it was, there was a guarantee that at least two instructors, huddled over their drinks as they spoke loudly and passionately.

Cam, the lone advisor, feels out of place at these gatherings but drowns his insecurities in liquor. There’s a lot more alcohol in his adulthood, probably a misguided attempt to numb the trauma that comes with being a ranger. Time can heal a lot, but there’s no amount of distance that can erase seeing so much death and participating in said death.

So he drinks and excuses himself when the superficiality of tonight’s conversation becomes too much for him. He walks outside and allows the piercing air to lick his cheeks. Being good with people has always escaped him. The closest he's come to being familiar with it was being apart of the rangers. It took a lot of ups and downs, but they became a family for that period of time.

Even now, when they see each other daily at the academy, they know the root of their friendship will always exist back then. At least when it comes to how Cam feels they think of him.

Something catches his eye outside and he realizes he’s not alone. He turns to see Hunter, standing against the brick wall that surrounds the bar. He looks pissed, but Cam has learned over time that that’s just his face.

“Got tired of the celebrity gossip?” Cam muses, teasing. Now that he’s concentrating on something, or someone, does he realize how much he actually drank inside.

Hunter either doesn’t hear him or doesn’t feel like talking because he doesn’t respond for a while. Cam looks back outward, towards the streets. It’s a quiet night, weeknights usually are. One of the streetlights up ahead flickers just enough to annoy him. It doesn’t take much to though, but he makes a mental note to write a letter to the city anyway.

“Hey, man, do you have the time?” Hunter’s words snap Cam out of his thoughts. He turns back around, almost a bit too fast for his drunken state, and trips onto the ground.

He’s mainly fine, though will wake up tomorrow morning with a scrape on his knee to pair with his pounding headache. In some other reality, where’s he isn’t so hard on himself, he would be like Dustin and crack a joke to lighten the mood. This isn’t another reality though, so when he hears Hunter get up from the wall and walk towards him, he tenses.

“I’m fine,” he mumbles, trying to get to his feet. His body feels so heavy though and the cold ground is comforting at the moment. Hunter ignores his words, for the second time tonight, and he feels a tug on his arm as his former teammate attempts to get him onto his feet.

Cam jerks his hand back and sloppily finishes the task on his own. “I said, I’m _fine_.”

Hunter glares back at him, giving him a once-over to ensure that he actually is as fine as he says. “I was just trying to help.”

“I don’t need your help,” he continues, unable to stop once he starts. All he’s wanted was to go back to how things were with the team, and here he is, pushing one of them away when they finally show they care. It’s typical of him.

“Dude, what the hell is your problem?” Hunter counters, with an air that implies this question has been concerning him for far longer than a few moments ago.

“ _My_ problem? You’re the one who’s always ready to throw a punch or yell!” As soon as the words leave his mouth, he’s unable to distinguish who exactly he’s talking about. From the way Hunter folds into himself, he feels the same.

A silence fills the air, as they both take a step back. They’ve rarely gotten along, but Cam has rarely gotten along with anyone. It’s weird to see Hunter alone, without Blake by his side. He looks incomplete, like he’s not really there.

But he is, with all his unresolved anger and blond hair that’s lost its shag. Someone finally taught him about gel and water and a comb. Now if only someone could teach him to lighten up a bit.

_He’s you, except more broken._ _He’s you without any guidance, or maybe a little more._

The thought enters Cam’s brain so immediately it sobers him. He takes another look at Hunter, this time really looking at him, and sees himself. They’re two overgrown children, who were robbed of childhoods and put to work, only to spit back out into the real world. It’s a miracle they’re somewhat well adjusted.

“I’m sorry,” he starts, unable to remember the last time he had apologized to anyone. Hunter gives him the same expression, which makes him feel even worse. Has he always been so arrogant, to where moments of sincerity cause such shock? “Look, how about I buy you a drink to make up for snapping.”

“Did we just enter an alternate dimension?” Hunter asks, though he’s smirking. Cam forces a laugh, though it came somewhat naturally.

“I’m serious,” Cam explains, still unable to be anything ever than serious.

“Don’t worry about it, bro, I know you,” Hunter shrugs, plopping a hand onto Cam’s shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. They head back into the bar, away from the rest of the instructors, and talk.

It’s the first time Cam has really talked to anyone in forever. He’s so used to small talk or academy talk, but to talk with someone who gets it. Gets the gravity of being a child superhero and everything that came with it. Someone with their own form of parental trauma that can help make sense of Cam’s by just relating to it. It’s refreshing and Cam didn’t realize how much he craved it until now.

 

 

Their talk turned into more talks and more drinks then fewer drinks, because they didn’t need them and their mouths were moving too quickly to take breaks for sipping. Turns out, there’s a lot more to Hunter than ninja work or Blake or motocross. Cam starts to realize how stubborn he is, Hunter starts to see how short-tempered he is. Together, they start to change, or mature. It’s not really certain, but Cam goes with it. The first time in his life that he’s ever willingly gone with anything.

 

About a month in, they share their first kiss. It catches them both off guard, but the way that their lips comfortingly wrap around each other, it’s been a long time coming. Still, Cam immediately buckles down and forces Hunter to discuss what they are to each other right then and there. Hunter reverts back to old Hunter on a dime, pushing him away, and storms off. It’s disappointing how easily they retreat back to their old selves, all their progress gone in a second. The next day, Cam is at his door, apologizing, well attempting to, but Hunter cuts him off with a kiss. Always the rash one. Just like that, they were back on their upward climb.

 

 

“I think we should move in together,” Cam proposes, one night in bed. It’s been about half a year now and Cam’s dad and Blake were the only ones who knew officially, but the old gang, namely Dustin asking them point blank one happy hour.

The question is spawned by nothing in particular. Maybe it’s the way Hunter’s hair shags up as they lay together, reminiscent of his teenage hairdo that Cam used to find annoying, but now makes him smile. Everything Hunter does makes him smile, even his overuse of the words “dude” and “bro.”

It’s so out of character for him, accepting someone’s faults instead of needlessly picking at them, but he’s learned a lot in this almost year. Patience being the main lesson, something he’s never excelled at before. It’s helped him tremendously, especially at work with instructors and students who can frustrate him.

Hunter has been good for him, in more ways than one, and every day spent together feels like he’s being healed from his past ways. Maybe his proposal is his way of ensuring he can hold onto that feeling more intimately.

“Are…are you serious?” Hunter asks, propping himself up on the bed with his elbow. Cam reaches over to the nightstand and grabs his glasses, putting them on. Now that he’s introduced the topic, he should be able to commit to it.

Cam nods, surprised at how calm he feels compared to Hunter’s shock. He should be the same, he’s never done this before. Any of this. And yet, everything has just fallen together so easily. Like a glove on a hand. Like it was meant.

“Completely.”

He smiles. Hunter smiles back, before becoming pensive. Thinking before speaking, a lesson both of them have learned while being together. Communication has never been their strong suits, but they’re figuring it out.

Hunter’s smile returns, as he nods. “Let’s do it.”

“You want to?”

“Hell yeah, dude,” Hunter exclaims, before leaning in and giving him a long peck. Cam reaches up, placing a hand on his cheek as they kiss.

 

 

It takes them about a month to officially move in together. They decide on Cam’s apartment, purely because it’s the least like a bachelor pad already, but also because Hunter and Blake share a place and that way Blake doesn’t have to find somewhere else to live.

Blake makes a joke about having to find rent all by himself, but it doesn’t take long until Tori moves in. Cam isn’t sure if that was an inevitable step in their relationship or if the youngest Bradley sibling was inspired by his oldest brother, but the timing was amusing, to say the least.

 

 

The first official night, when Hunter comes by with his last box, they order pizza and invite the entire gang over. Well, more so Hunter does. Cam is a nervous ball of energy in the hours leading up to it. It’s one thing to see them in the hallways or sit in during sessions, but it’s been so long since he had hung out with them in a setting like this.

“It’s gonna be fine,” Hunter assures him, as he watches him pace around the living room. “We’ve all been friends for almost a decade now.”

“No, _you’ve_ been friends with them for a decade now. I’m more in the realm of a former classmate that they acknowledge but that’s pretty much the extent of it,” he replies swiftly, before finally taking a seat on the couch.

“Cam, they love you. Blake loves you, Dustin loves everyone. Relax,” Hunter counters, taking his hand in his.

Cam smirks, actually relaxing a bit. “When did you become the voice of reason around here?” It’s meant as a compliment and he’s grateful Hunter takes it as such, including a laugh.

“One of us has to be, eh?”

It hits Cam at that moment just how much time has passed. The distance between now and when the academy first crumbled to bits and he very nearly escaped death is so grand. They both carry lines on their faces and the type of pain you can’t shake after being a glorified child soldier. He’s always felt like an old soul but it hits him at that moment just how young and naïve he was. He still is.

“You’re right,” he concludes, pressing his forehead against Hunter’s. They stay like that for what feels like forever, but soon a knock comes on the door and it’s back to reality.

Dinner turns out to be a success. Dustin envelopes him in a hug so tight, it lifts him off of the ground. Tori’s smile is so warm as she asks how he is and congratulates him with a housewarming plant, Blake interjecting to correct it as _their_ gift. And Shane, eyes twinkling, notes how much happier they both seem.

It catches them off guard, Hunter almost chokes on his pizza, but it feels nice to have someone else acknowledge their growth together. It cements it and makes it feel more real.

 

 

It's been so long since Cam had lived with someone else, but the way Hunter becomes at home here so easily makes him wonder how he ever lived alone in the first place. It was suddenly impossible to imagine a time without dirt scuffs near the front door or Hunter rapping in the shower. His apartment felt less like an apartment and more like a home every day.

When they're on the couch, watching some mindless movie that happens to be on, Cam turns to Hunter midway through and smiles. "Thank you." Somehow he had become the romantic one in their relationship, but in hindsight it made sense. He was the one set in his ways, without a sibling to keep him company. Hunter had grown a lot, but still had issues initiating gestures. Not that Cam gave him much of a chance.

"For what?"

"For everything. Being antisocial enough to be standing outside that night. For attempting to help me when I fell, in more ways than one. I've never felt this...happy in my entire life. You make me a better person, Hunter, and I'm so grateful for you."

The words just spill out, unable to stop, but the way Hunter's expression softens makes him never want to stop. He finally does though, remembering that there's time for everything. No need to rush anymore. The days are theirs to make.

In true Hunter fashion, he smirks and turns back to the television. "You're welcome," he teases, brushing it off.

Cam just smiles and joins his gaze at the television, content to just stay like this forever. Maybe he will.


End file.
